What You’ll Learn

• How to prioritize and fill a campaign’s foundational staff roles
• Where to look for qualified and diverse staff talent
• How to design an efficient and equitable campaign staff hiring process
• How to evaluate applicants for staff roles

Why This is Important

Many campaigns at the county and municipal level work with a committed team of volunteers out of necessity, but adding paid professionals to a campaign is a smart move, if the budget permits. This course introduces the basics of political campaign staff hiring, from recruitment to onboarding. You’ll also learn actionable ways to make the campaign’s hiring practices more equitable, easier to navigate, and all-around more efficient. Even if your team is made up exclusively of volunteers, knowing how roles and responsibilities are best delegated on a campaign will be helpful.

Key Resources

• Campaign Staff Roles and Responsibilities Guide
• Campaign Job Descriptions Guide
• Campaign Staff Applicant Evaluation Rubric Template
• Campaign Staff Interview Questions Worth Asking
• Campaign Staff Hiring Pool Management Tool

Related Trainings

• Getting Your Campaign Off the Ground — If you’ve decided to run but haven’t set your campaign in motion yet, your first step should be this course. In it, you’ll learn how to get your name on the ballot and lay the essential groundwork needed to win
• Intro to Volunteer Recruitment and Management — Learn how to turn a growing network of contacts into volunteers that will take leadership roles on your campaign
• Campaign Staff Management Best Practices — Learn best practices for actively managing staff throughout a campaign, from initial onboarding to end-of-campaign transitions